Texans’ ‘nightmare’ season costs Kubiak his dream job

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A Texans season that began with Super Bowl aspirations collapsed to an unthinkable 11 straight losses, an NFL-worst 2-11 record and, now, a head-coaching search.

Gary Kubiak was fired by Texans owner Bob McNair on Friday.

Kubiak led the Texans to back-to-back AFC South division titles and the franchise’s only two playoff victories in the last two seasons but finished 61-64, just three games shy of completing his eighth full season as the head coach of his hometown team.

McNair made the decision on the flight home following Thursday night’s 27-20 nationally televised loss to Jacksonville — the Texans’ second loss in 11 days to the Jaguars, who owned the NFL’s worst record before their win in Houston.

“It was difficult for me because I think so much of Gary,” said McNair, obviously distraught over the decision. “It’s something that I didn’t want to do, but you do what’s best for the organization. We’re thankful for the job that he’s done for us.”

McNair promoted defensive coordinator Wade Phillips to interim coach for the last three games against Indianapolis, Denver and Tennessee.

Phillips, who has a career record of 82-61 as a head coach, will be a candidate for the permanent position. Expected to be among the other candidates are former Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith and Stanford coach David Shaw.

McNair said interviews to find Kubiak’s replacement will begin immediately. Rick Smith and Cal McNair also will be part of the interview process.

“We’re looking for a coach that’s bright, ethical, whose culture fits in with the culture of our organization, innovative, flexible, able to make adjustments, works with great energy and enthusiasm and is very positive in his approach,” McNair said.

Also at the news conference, McNair said Case Keenum will be the starting quarterback for the rest of the season.

Later on Friday, the Texans also fired special teams coordinator Joe Marciano, who joined the organization in its inaugural season of 2002, and replaced him with Bob Ligashesky, the assistant special teams coach.

Lovie Smith led the Bears to a Super Bowl before getting fired after posting a 10-6 record last season. Shaw has an NFL background as an assistant coach and is 33-6 in three seasons as the head coach at Stanford.

“We would like someone who has had head-coaching experience but has also had NFL experience,” McNair said. “A combination of those two things would be the ideal situation, and there are people who meet those conditions.”

‘Always our home’

Kubiak, a former St. Pius and Texas A&M quarterback, was in his first head-coaching position, and he thanked McNair in a statement.

“Bob has treated me with the utmost class and respect throughout my career with the Texans,” said Kubiak, who was an assistant coach in 11 years in Denver before being called to come home. “I am appreciative of him for bringing me back to Houston to coach my hometown team.

“Coming back home was a dream come true for all of us. This will always be our home.”

It’s been a trying year for Kubiak health-wise as well, as he suffered a mini-stroke at halftime of the Indianapolis game and missed the trip to Arizona the next week.

McNair’s decision was made after Thursday night’s defeat at Jacksonville.

“The last straw was losing,” McNair said. “We’ve got a lot better talent than Jacksonville, and to have them beat us twice, that’s to their credit. They played harder. They played smarter.

“That’s not acceptable to us. We expect to play hard and play smart, and we didn’t play smart.

In the 27-20 defeat to the Jaguars that tied the 1972 and 1994 Oilers for the longest losing streak in Houston’s pro football history, the Texans set team records with 14 penalties for 177 yards.

“To have this string of losses is just totally unacceptable, and it’s not what this organization is about,” McNair said. “We’re about winning and accountability.

“Even though we normally would wait until the end of the year to evaluate our coaching staff and our players, under these extreme circumstances, we decided it was in the best interest of the organization to go ahead and start that evaluation process now.”

Righting the ship

Kubiak, 52, was under contract through 2014.

He led the Texans to back-to-back division titles and a playoff victory in each of the last two seasons.

Kubiak was hired in 2006 to replace Dom Capers, who was fired after the Texans finished 2-14 in 2005.

When general manager Charley Casserly resigned after the 2006 draft, Kubiak recommended Rick Smith to McNair. Kubiak and Smith worked together in Denver.
“We’ve been together for almost 18 years,” Smith said. “I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for him.

“We’ve got to right the ship, and that’s what this decision, unfortunately, is about. You’ve got to really be honest and look at what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.”

The Texans’ plummet began last season when they were 11-1 but finished 1-3. They beat Cincinnati in a wild-card game for the second year in a row before being eliminated at New England in the divisional round.

Since that 11-1 start, the Texans are 3-14 in the regular season.

Last season, the Texans were 5-0 in one-score games. They began this season 2-0. Then they couldn’t win close games, losing the last seven by seven or fewer points. That’s an NFL-record stretch, according to Elias Sports.

“Clearly, right now, we have not been productive over the last 11 weeks,” Smith said, “and we have to figure out why.”

Before each of the last two seasons, the Texans were a popular choice by NFL experts to contend for the city’s first Super Bowl.

“We don’t have to do a lot to get us back on track,” McNair said. “We expect to be right back in playoff contention next year. This is not a long-term rebuilding process.”